Serendipity

 This is a heartwarming story I read in the newspaper recently.  'Youth without shelter' charity needed 3 million dollars to finalize a deal on a property to house youth at risk. Last minute funding came in from the city just in time in what the charity is calling 'serendipity'.  They had all but given up hope. 

Lake George 1869 and Easter Sunday

This painting by John Frederik Kensett came up on my screen saver recently and it made an impression on me because I thought it was a photo!  What amazing detail.  Apparently it sits in the Metropolitan Museum of modern art in New York City.  Here is a link with more information.

Have a Wonderful Easter Sunday!

 

On Zebras, Polar Bears and Chickens

 Adam recently posted a fun fact that made me curious to know more.  I found this article that explains more about zebras having black skin and white stripes and not the other way around.

Then my sister told me she learned that Polar Bears have black skin but appear white due to light reflections on its hollow hairs.  

The next revelation is that  you can determine the colour of a chicken's egg by the colour of its earlobe. A white earlobe means white eggs, a dark earlobe means brown eggs.

I love interesting stuff like this!

Friday Art - Puffin

 This is my puffin ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") for Friday Art.  It is inspired by BBC Earth on free preview one weekend.  I caught a fascinating episode showing these puffins going about daily life.  They fly hundreds of metres over the water and dive deep down to catch fish for their young.   Wouldn't you know they have predator fish that often steal this precious catch. 

It is Good Friday, many Catholics eat fish today as opposed to meat.

Rain's Thursday Art Date - A Fond Memory

 

Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art Date's 'A Fond Memory' theme.  I chose  'The Arc De Triomphe' in Paris as my fond memory. 

 In March 2007 I spent 5 memorable days in Paris with my husband and kids.  Daughter L was 14 son K was 11.  We got a great deal on the flight from then Zoom airlines which went out of business months later.  I did so much research and planning for this trip.  I used a Rick Steves travel book and even used Google Earth to look at the area.  Google is a lot easier to use these days.

We stayed in an old apartment right next to the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs Elysees.  It was similar to booking an airbnb although that company had not yet started up.  It even had a view of the Eiffel Tower from a window.  We took a train to visit the Palace of Versailles.  We took a boat ride on the Seine at night with the Eiffel Tower twinkling away. We visited the Louvre and saw many other sights.

Fond memories indeed, I wished it had been 7 days instead of 5.  Being chilly March, the city was not yet overrun with tourists but as always one had to be wary of pickpockets.  It did mean that the fountains of Versailles were not yet turned on.

Meme Wednesday

 I got the above meme from Grannie Annie.

The above meme speaks to me, I am a victim of feeling overwhelmed on occasion.

Black Bean Quinoa Casserole and Egg Bites

Linking to Kathy's Food Wednesdays. 

One of my sisters shared this Quinoa Bean Casserole recipe with us and she has made it several times now.  So I tried it, it was really good!

My other sister shared this egg bite recipe with me, she said it is a knockoff of the Starbuck egg bites.  So this is another recipe I mean to try.

Anyway, maybe you will get to this one before I do!  

These are my sister's egg bite photos.  She likes sous vide cooking so instead of baking her eggs she did them in that water bath manner.  Her version contained ham, gruyere, cottage cheese, spinach, sausage and eggs.